10. Lavandula intermedia ‘Phenomenal’: This plant has its own Facebook page. It is expected to take the gardening world by storm, being more robust than most lavender varieties. Grows 60-75 cm (23-29 inches) by 60-75 cm (23-29 inches) wide.Picasa

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The traditional learning curve for novice gardeners is first to have fun growing annuals — things like marigolds, snapdragons and pelargoniums — and then to switch over and discover the incredible range, diversity and value of come-back-every-year perennials.

When this exciting crossover happens, gardeners are faced with the challenge of choosing from a vast range of interesting plants, all of which are capable of delivering at least three or four years (often more) of healthy, productive growth.

Most herbaceous perennials rise from their dormancy of cold soil in spring, produce new leaves and flowers, and then die down in fall, disappearing completely out of sight for winter.

Some, however, such as euphorbias, hellebores and heuchera, are evergreen in mild areas and offer attractive structure and colour all year round.

But the first thing new perennial gardeners need to figure out is which plants to choose and how to put them together into eye-catching, functional associations.

Some perennials have become so popular and are used as workhorse plants in the majority of gardens that many longtime gardeners don’t even refer to them anymore.

Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is one such plant. You’ll find it in pretty much every garden, especially English-style gardens, where it has become a traditional staple.

But few people ever talk about it or point it out anymore, even though everyone would confess at the drop of a hat to loving it and would say they could not bear to be without it.

Everyone, of course, will have their own list of favourites. I would lobby strongly for astrantia, aquilegia, hardy geraniums, cimicifuga, crocosmia, and without a doubt, euphorbia, hellebore and ligularlia.

Quite a few plants are technically not perennials, being either biennials such as digitalis (foxgloves) or lavender (shrub), but they get lumped in with perennials along with alliums, peonies, phormiums, hardy fuchsias, even some clematis and ground covers like pachysandra.

Connoisseur perennial gardeners often talk airily about the charms of sanguisorba and scrophularia, trillium and tiarella, geum and gentian, knautia and kirengeshoma — all top-notch perennials well worth discovering.

My son, who is now one of the new generation of 30-something gardeners, has a particular fondness for prickly, architectural blue beauties, such as echinops (sea thistle) and erygium (sea holly), along with classic acanthus and late-summer bloomers like monarda (bee balm) and helenium (sneezeweed). His learning curve is exciting to observe.

When asked, Gary Lewis, owner of Phoenix Perennials Nursery in Richmond, came up with a tantalizing list of his favourite “stalwart” perennials.

But he also went one better, and named new-and-improved cultivars with each selection.

For instance, being a firm fan of ajuga, he named tried-and-tested Burgundy Glow, but also pointed out that Sugar Plum is a better all-around performer.

Japanese anemones, especially September Charm are incredibly useful for end-of-summer colour, but the new, more compact forms in the Pretty Lady series are smaller and easier to accommodate in small gardens, he says.

Sea Heart and Silver Heart are improved forms of the Brunnera Jack Frost and Looking Glass. These are plants loved for their exquisite heart-shaped silver-green leaves and dainty blue flowers.

Everyone fell in love with the flowers of Coreopsis Limerock Ruby when it first came out, only to be disappointed when the plant turned out not to be hardy. Lewis says Mercury Rising, part of the new Big Bang series, produces almost identical flowers and is winter hardy, making it a true perennial.

As for bleeding hearts, Valentine is a striking red-flowered variety, Lewis says. And when it comes to the ever-popular blue festuca grasses, Beyond Blue is a far better cultivar than Elijah Blue.

Geranium Rozanne scores top marks for its prolific, continuous blooming, but Havana Blues is the new rival on the block, with equally impressive credentials.

Hellebores can do no wrong in Lewis’ book. He is always on the lookout for new, improved cultivars, such as Anna’s Red, Maestro, Penny’s Pink and Merlin — all first-class introductions.

Knautia macedonica has been a favourite for years because of its dainty purple-red pincushion flowers, but Thunder and Lightning is a more compact form and also has variegated foliage.

Most gardeners have Sedum Autumn Joy, a brilliant, upright, sturdy perennial for architecture and fall colour, but Lewis highly rates new cultivars in the Desert series (Desert Black, Desert Blonde and Desert Red) as well as Thundercloud and Thunderhead for their outstanding flower and foliage colour.

Two perennials he thinks more people would enjoy are schizostylis for flowers in October/November and agastaches for hot spots and for attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, especially proven performers like Summer Fiesta, Summer Glow and Raspberry Summer.

Lewis agrees that many of the rules of perennial gardening, such as always planting tall things at the back and medium-size things in the middle, have been thrown out the window.

“It’s perfectly OK to put some tall things in the middle and place a few medium-size things at the front of the border to create diversity and rhythm,” he says.

Sequencing is still the biggest challenge: arranging plants so that when one finishes, another picks up the flower torch, but concentrating on foliage and shape is just as important, he says.

“I personally love a riot of colour, but I know people who will only plant pinks, purples and white and will never look at an orange flower.”

The beauty of hardy perennials is that they do give you value for money, returning every year and usually getting bigger and better, often allowing you to divide them and make new clumps and colonies.

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